Chinstrap
by Padfoot's Blondie
Summary: Holly decides to visit Artemis after realizing that they haven't seen each other in way too long. Artemis is 17 now, and Holly barely reconizes him... Oneshot. T cuz I feel like it. Pre-slash
1. Chapter 1

**Heyy! Hope you guys like this! **

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review! :D**

Holly flew down towards the massive brick building, intent on finding room 156, where Artemis was apparently having social studies class.

She would have normally visited him actually at home, but this was an exception, as she had to be home before long, so it would be a short visit. They would perhaps go out to the courtyard, while Holly shielded and Artemis talked to her while holding his cell phone up to his ear.

They were very good at thinking up these creative ways to talk. They were doing a lot of talking as of late via fairy communicator.

Holly hadn't actually seen Artemis in over a year and a half. She had been busy with missions for the LEP, and Artemis was seventeen and attempting to live a normal life.

That wasn't to say he was succeeding, but Holly knew that he wasn't completely failing at it. She could hardly wait to talk to him face to face, instead of just through fairy communicators.

Holly checked to see if her shield was still intact, and landed on the sidewalk outside of Artemis's school. Walking up the steps to the door, she threw open the door (with difficulty) and walked inside, hoping that no one had seen the door seemingly open on its own.

Traipsing down the hall, Holly noted the room numbers she was passing and used them to judge where she should go to find room 156. She got tired of walking however, and decided to fly instead. Why walk when you could fly?

When she finally came to the right room, she was relieved to find the door open. She floated into the room. Looking behind her, she noticed a multicolored mural of rainbow-splattered paint. Oddly enough, when she stopped flying and stayed suspended against the painting, it appeared as though the paint was shifting and shimmering.

Glancing around the classroom, she didn't recognize anyone that could be Artemis. Was she in the right room?

She checked her hand where she had scribbled the room number in pen. The numbers had run a little but the numbers '156' were still clearly visible.

Holly decided that she should just relax. She would find Artemis eventually.

Tuning in on the conversation, Holly noticed they were talking about Ancient Roman epics. She took out her Neutrino to polish it.

While she polished her Neutrino, she listened to the conversation. The teacher was explaining the story of Paris and Helen, commonly associated with the city of Troy.

All of a sudden, a voice interrupted the teacher. "But, who're Helen and Paris? I thought the main character of _Troy_ was Troy!"

Another student spoke up. "No, man, that was the movie! You're supposed to be thinking of the musical high school. Now that guy was Troy."

"No!" The teacher piped up. "This is not a class on movies!"

Seeing that no one was about to start listening to the teacher, the class broke out into whispers as people stopped paying attention.

The teacher then, in a sudden fit of delirium, screeched, "EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

They all pretty much shut up. Except that one kid who kept talking about Troy from _High School Musical._

Holly rolled her eyes. If Artemis were in this class, he would've spoken up by now. Holly guessed that Artemis was cutting. Artemis, cutting class? Strangely enough, it didn't seem like such an abstract idea.

"This isn't a class on imbecilic Disney Channel movies. It's about ancient Latin and Roman culture. Paris and Helen were star-crossed lovers on opposing sides of a war they themselves caused. If you really wanted to know, which from judging by your apparent lack of comprehension of anything more complex than a children's movie, I'd guess you wouldn't really care."

Holly, while cleaning her Neutrino, tuned in on the last few words of this student's speech-like monologue. Glancing up slowly, she looked for the person who had talked; who she was absolutely positive was Artemis. However, none of them looked like Artemis did after delivering a speech like that. None of them had the same self-satisfied smirk that Holly had grown so accustomed to…

But who was that in the back left corner, one seat up from being in the last row? He seemed like he was wearing the trademark Artemis smirk… But this couldn't be Artemis.

Then, the bell rang. Dissatisfied that she had been unable to find Artemis, Holly stored away her Neutrino again and flew out the door before the students could get through.

Racing through the hallways to get outside before students flooded the hallways, Holly fled into an alcove right below the ceiling. She waited till the hall was completely devoid of students before flying out into the courtyard. She could only hope that Artemis came out here at some point in his day.

Unlikely, as he wasn't really one for the outdoors, but Holly couldn't stand being inside on a gorgeous day like today.

She had planned on going and sitting under the huge oak tree, but to her surprise there was already someone sitting there.

Moving closer, Holly noted that the boy looked to be in his late teens and was wearing a plain white tee shirt and normal dark wash blue jeans. He had black short hair and a chinstrap beard. He was the last student that had spoken in the social studies class Artemis was supposed to have been in.

The one with Artemis smirk.

Holly was staring at this boy, wondering, wondering… when suddenly he looked up, revealing two brilliant blue eyes and the trademark Artemis smirk. What was more, the boy was looking straight at her.

Holly looked down at herself in a panic. Had her shield come off, allowing this random human to see her? No, she was still shielded. So how did this boy know she was there…?

Unless, of course it was Artemis…

Holly gasped slightly as the boy lifted a hand and crooked his forefinger in her direction, in the universal gesture for 'come here, you.'

Holly, in a daze, floated over to the human, who she was almost positive, was Artemis.

When she was right next to him, he looked at her and smiled widely. "Hello, Holly."

Holly gaped openly. She grabbed his shirt and half-hauled him to the other side of the oak tree, hiding them from view. It was much harder to haul him now that he was seventeen…

Un-shielding, Holly incredulously stared at him.

"Artemis?" She inquired. Of course it was him, as how else would he know it was she, except she couldn't really accept it just yet. This kid didn't really look like how she'd remembered Artemis.

The teen had the trademark Fowl eyes, the brilliant sapphires (both of them had started wearing colored contacts in their switched eye so as to avoid unwanted questions). He had the black hair, and the same tallness and thinness. That was where the similarities ended.

The boy was wearing casual wear. Tee and jeans. Nothing the Artemis Holly knew would be caught dead in. The prominent, gorgeous cheekbones that were not there two years ago. The straight nose that had always had some curve to it. The angular face with the intense features definitely was not what Holly remembered.

And then, there it was.

The main reason that Holly hadn't recognized him.

The chinstrap.

For whatever reason, Artemis had decided to grow a thin chinstrap beard along his jaw and chin.

That was so NOT an Artemis thing to do.

_Normally, chinstraps DO NOT work_, Holly thought to herself, eyeing it. _But his just… works. _

And it did. It looked very good on Artemis.

Artemis raised his eyebrows at the growing silence between them, the one in which Holly was at a loss for words, staring at Artemis.

When Holly finally found her voice, the only thing she could say was, "A chinstrap, Artemis? Really?"

He laughed. "Angeline wanted me to grow one. She thinks it's very 'teen'. Who am I to deprive of her of her little pleasures after everything I've done to her and everything she's done for me, even if I look like an idiot in the process?"

Holly shook her head very fast. "No, you don't look like an idiot! You look-"

Realizing that she was about to say "hot", Holly caught herself just in time, blushing. Artemis looked at her strangely.

"Fetching," she finished lamely. He chuckled.

"Thanks."

"And the clothes?" Holly asked.

"They're comfortable!" He protested, laughing. Holly smiled.

"You laugh a lot more now. It's nice," She remarked.

"Blame it on the twins. They're seven now!"

Holly could barely wait to see them again, too. And looking at Artemis's smiling, chin strapped face; she had a feeling things would change. But for the better…. Much better!

**Lol, I know, cheesy ending. I rock at those. :D another thing, I didn't feel like trying to remember how much older Artemis is than Miles and Beckett, so the ages are probably messed up but who gives a crap? Not me! :)**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! REVIEW! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**HI, guys! :) I got inspired and just had to continue with this, lol. Hope you enjoy, and leave a review at the end!**

**Enjoy! :D**

The front door slammed, jolting Holly from her thoughts. She had been playing with Myles and Beckett until Artemis came home from school.

Holly had been visiting the Fowls on and off for a few days now, since she had met Artemis in the school. It was on and off because she still had her LEP duties, but Trouble pretty much let her do whatever she wanted. Holly suspected that this was because Trouble's feelings for her extended past friendship, but she paid it no mind. She didn't really care.

Remembering the first day Holly had seen him in over two years, she recalled how he had had a clean, thin chinstrap decorating his jaw and chin. Holly usually detested facial hair but she had strangely liked Artemis's. A lot.

As Holly visited over the course of almost a week, on and off, she almost chuckled as she thought of how Artemis's beard had changed over the last few days. It had gone from a thin chinstrap to clean-shaven, then to stubble, then once again the chinstrap. Holly wondered what he would be sporting today.

She looked up from Myles and Beckett's game, and was met with the sight of the young twins hanging all over Artemis as he tried to drop his backpack.

Yeah, Holly was surprised too that he had a backpack. No briefcase? Artemis had changed more than she thought. He was in jeans and a tee shirt again today. As he ruffled the twin's hair and tried to juggle them both at once, he looked over at Holly and smiled.

Holly smiled back. She was slightly confused though, as before he saw her he had been looking a little confused and seemed to be trying to get a grasp on something.

"Hey, Artemis," she said, waving and starting to get up. "What's u-…" she trailed off, catching sight of his face.

He looked at her strangely. "Is something blocking your throat?" He asked, concerned at the way she had stopped speaking so abruptly. Okay, he hadn't changed _that_ much.

Holly swallowed, and choked down a laugh. "Uh, no. I'm just wondering what's up with your, um, beard situation."

Artemis was confused. "Beard situation?" He set the twins down, who ran off to play outside. He reached up and ran his hand over his jaw in what seemed like a contemplative fashion, but Holly really knew that he was feeling what was so very strange about his beard.

Holly, unable to take it anymore, burst into giggles. "Starting a new trend of sporadic facial hair?" She asked him teasingly. He stared at her for a second with his bright blue eyes boring into her own boring hazel ones, and he ran into the bathroom.

Holly's laughter followed him all the way to the bathroom. He leaned into the mirror, barely taking note of his defined, to die for cheekbones and great bone structure and focusing on the seemingly randomly-placed hair patches growing untamed along his cheeks, chin, jaw, and neck.

"Ah, damn," he muttered, rubbing his jaw and chin. He'd had no idea he looked so idiotic… no wonder Holly was laughing.

Deciding to not let Holly laugh at him any longer, he yelled from the bathroom, "I'm shaving so that's the last you'll ever see of my excellently placed beard."

She laughed, and then paused. "Shave it into a chinstrap again," she said after a few moments of silence. He looked at his reflection, wondering why his cheeks were suddenly pooling with red into a blush.

Why was he blushing? Oh, well, he thought, grabbing the razor and shaving cream.

Fifteen minutes later, he walked back into the living room where Holly was lounging on the couch. She sat up when she saw him, and grinned widely. Staring at his beard, she said, "When all else fails, Artemis, go with the chinstrap. There isn't any way you could go wrong with it." He chuckled and sat down next to her.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Holly turned to him. He looked back, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Why did you walk in the door with a confused face, like you were trying to figure out something?"

He looked away from her, turning his head away. Holly was confused.

When he finally looked back at her, his face was almost completely red. Holly thought the look was rather becoming on him and vaguely noted that it was probably the first time hw had ever seen him blush- excluding of course the, um, incident involving time travel.

"What's so embarrassing about being confused?" Holly asked dryly. "Most of us feel confusion on a daily basis."

He sighed. "It's not that I'm embarrassed about being confused… it's more confusion about something that happened at school."

Holly stared. "What could possibly happen at school that could make _you _confused?"

He sighed again. "Well, in senior year there is a thing called 'Senior Polls', in which people get voted, for instance, 'Most Likely to Succeed', or 'Cutest Couple', or 'Best Car'."

Holly nodded. "So, did you win one? Lemme guess- you won 'Smartest'?"

He blushed again and shook his head. "I won…" Holly made the 'keep going' gesture with her hand.

"I was voted 'Best Eyes'," Artemis blurted out, his cheeks going even darker. Holly's mouth dropped open.

"Artemis, that's awesome!" she said excitedly. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who had noticed that he had beautiful eyes (and beard). "And it's totally true too, your eyes are amazing." Once she said that, she immediately blushed insanely hard. That was _not _supposed to have slipped out.

Artemis gaped at her, then shut his mouth smartly. "Oh, thanks," he said steadily. "I was wondering if it had been a joke or a mistake."

Holly laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't win 'Best Looking'," She said. She literally almost slapped her forehead. _Why don't you just go tell him that you have a massive crush on him, too?_

He laughed, all traces of embarrassment seemingly gone. Holly didn't think that was fair, considering her face had settled at somewhere around three thousand degrees.

"They didn't have a 'Best Looking', but thanks for the compliments," he said, laughing softly. He stood up.

"I'm going to get a drink, you want one?" he asked, smiling coyly. He turned around before she could respond and started walking towards the kitchen.

Holly felt like she had whiplash. What had just happened? She decided to follow him into the kitchen to find out. When he turned around and grinned at her once more, she knew that she'd made the right decision.

**Annnd, that's it! Hope you guys weren't disappointed with the extension. If I get any more inspirations, I'll extend it even father lol. **

**I unfortunately probably won't be able to write any more Arty one-shot for a while cuz track just started up again, so sorry! Hope you guys were satisfied with this one! :D**

**Please review! I'm off to see the Harry Potter movie! *spazzes out at the thought of seeing Remus Lupin and Draco Malfoy again* AHHHH!**

**REVIEWWW! :D**


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